Lebanon Bleeds Oil

In southern Lebanon, little has been spared from destruction. One, perhaps lesser-known, effect is a substantial spike in olive oil prices of up to 50% in the last year. Since fighting re-ignited between Hezbollah and Israel in March, agriculture in the region has continued to suffer. An updated report by the Lebanese Ministry of Agriculture, released on May 5, indicates that around 22.5% of agricultural areas, including farms and greenhouses, have been damaged, with over 6,593 farmers displaced by Israel’s military activities. Production of southern Lebanese olive oil has drastically declined as a result of massive ecological damage, with olives among the hardest hit crops in the region, down 91%. This is not an isolated event. Confrontation between Israel and  Hezbollah led to the destruction of over 47,000 olive trees in October 2023, and a further 2,011 acres of olive groves as of April 2025, which cost the sector roughly $236 million alone,  a substantial share of the $586 million lost across agriculture as a whole. 

Roots of the Olive Tree 

But why do olive trees and, by extension, olive oil, so poignantly portray the damage caused in the south? Firstly, their destruction is “the loss of a living heritage”. Cultivation of the earliest olive trees by the Canaanites can be traced as far back as 4500 BCE, and the Phoenicians played a vital role in the dissemination of olive cultivation through Greece in the 16th century BC, where it gradually became central to economic and cultural life, and continued to expand across the region. In essence, olive oil is profoundly emblematic, not only of the Levantine region to which it is indigenous, but of a cultural identity shared within the wider Mediterranean basin, not least as a staple ingredient of cuisines across the region that include Spanish, Italian, Greek and Tunisian, to name a few. By demolishing the olive trees in south Lebanon, Israel is effectively erasing an internationally communal heritage that is “deeply connected to family history, local traditions, food culture, and rural economies”.

Economically, the south of Lebanon depends heavily on the productivity of its olive sector. As of November 2023, 20% of Lebanon’s farmland was covered by olive output, providing income for over 110,000 farmers, growers, and related value chain. Today, 38% of Lebanon’s total olive growth takes place in the south, making its protection and preservation critical to both national and local food security. Lebanese olive oil, which has attained global renown, is an indispensable economic contributor to the country, specifically in the south, the continued effacement of which continues to bring devastating consequences.. 

Uprooted

The annihilation of olive-related agriculture in southern Lebanon shows no sign of abating. Between Sunday 2 and Monday 3 August, following another substantial series of strikes, Israel’s forces set olive groves ablaze in the southern village of Yaroun, in the Bint Jbeil district. According to the village’s municipality chairman Hafez Ghacham, the fire lasted over 36 hours, wiping out over 120 hectares of fruit orchards and olive groves, some of which contained century-old trees. Some soldiers reportedly went further, uprooting and removing trees before setting the field alight, a practice which is not uncommon according to many sources. The extent to which the loss of olive trees can be attributed to appropriation of trees and topsoil as opposed to intentional damage is debatable. Nevertheless, there is no justification for dismissing this destruction as accidental or unavoidable collateral damage in ‘the fog of war.’ 

Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz announced in July that “the entirely of those villages – their demolition has been completed”, referring to the destruction of “15,000 to 20,000 homes” across “24 villages”. Israel’s use of white phosphorus, a poisonous substance that burns upon contact, and incendiary bombs causes devastating damage to olive groves, as well as farms and forests. Environmental damage, targeting of bridges in the south, as well as daily attacks and threats against trucks, has substantially compromised supply chains. Such actions seem to some as consistent with a ‘scorched-earth’ strategy – a phrase that is now as literally depictive of southern Lebanon as it is figurative. 

An Opportunity? 

Despite the vast economic, historic, and cultural losses suffered in southern Lebanon, the acknowledgement by Israel’s government of wrongdoing by certain ‘bad apples’ is not without precedent. When soldiers smashed a statue of Christ in the village of Debel earlier this year, the IDF opened an investigation and admitted the act “completely deviated” from its own stated values. Could a similar approach not be applied here?

Lebanon’s stalled ceasefire with Israel is stuck in a stalemate that is ultimately based on a trust deficit: Hezbollah is unwilling to disarm before Israel’s withdrawal, while Israel refuses to withdraw before disarmament. Diplomacy depends on smaller, face-saving gestures to unlock such deadlock, and finding a way to compensate for the olive groves destroyed in the south would cost Israel next to nothing in regards to national security.  Given olive oil’s recognition and value both within and outside Lebanon’s borders, a gesture to redress the unnecessary damage to the sector and the most affected victims would carry diplomatic weight disproportionate to its cost. If a lack of trust remains the single greatest obstacle to peace, there may be a rare opportunity for Israel to extend the olive branch.

Featured image composed by the author using AI